They've made their Christmas advert `an event`. Not sure if this was their initial intention when they started the campaigns (about 4 years ago now) but any company who makes their customers fawn over their ADVERT before they've even begun to fawn over their products has delved into the zenith of evil marketing genius.

they are great. But the beady eyes on this CGI bit of fluff look a bit creepy (I've only seen some stills- I can't get youtube at work. So tempted to run home and watch it. I LOVE the JL ads. I don't care what the killjoys say.)

that advert is fucking shite and is basically a cgi version of a story written by a kid that ends in 'it was all a dream'. The rest of the advert doesn't actually bear any significance or give any greater meaning to the ending.

Also adverts-as-spectacle is depressing and you should all be ashamed. ENJOY WATCHING CHRISTMAS ADVERTS AT READING

squeal about capitalism,- JLP is an employee owned entity, or rather it is held by trustees on trust for its employee beneficial owners. they get paid well, get chunky bonuses (in the last few years, this has amounted to about 10 weeks pay), amazing pensions and holidays (including special leave of several months paid leave at various points in their career.)
JLP doesn't generally pursue nearly as aggressive an advertising policy as many of its peers (next e..g whos profatibility far outstrips JLP on a £x£ basis, but which is a lcusterfuck of an organisation._

I don't think it's unreasonable for JLP to embrace commercialism in order to boost its returns to its owners. I thought that's what all you pinkos were all about anyway, or is it better that the commune has only meagre pickings to divide out amongst its members?
Anyway, PENGUINS.

It just makes me laugh.
The Workers- OH THE PEOPLE SHOULD OWN COMMERCE!!
Mr lewis- OK, THE LABOUR FORCE CAN OWN THIS COPMPANY, WE ARE ALL PARTNERS KNOW, NOT JUST IN £ BUT IN DECISOIN MAKING CAPACITY AND STRATEGY BUILDING. GREAT STUFF, TALLY HO.
6th Form Politics Student- waaah commercialism, advertising is evil, we shouldn't paly on emotion and psychology in an attempt to boost business!
Mr Lewis to Workers- I am sorry but you all have precisely one farthing for your salary this year and I need to close the company as those cunts at Next have stolen our market sector with their advert about the sleepy santa sloths.
#end

let's try again. HAH! Not on here YET but all over facebook people are wringing out their hankies, harking back to the days when you got a tangerine and a spinning top and bloody well liked it, and shops are RUINING CHRISTMAS for everyone everywhere with their cute ads featuring fluffy animals and excited wee kids. I love this time of year, it assists me well in the defriending of people for the coming year.

may be a bit better for those working directly in there stores, sure the supply chain that makes up the majority of the work that goes into john lewis are just as exploited as most other places. don't get the comparison with next, they're just a clothes shop.

I doubt anyone in the world is doing what youre saying. I think people are (rightly) pointing out that this sort of emotional provocation from a piece whose sole intention is to sell you stuff is fundamentally meaningless/vacuous/empty and anti-art, which is more art-critique than social analysis. That this nihilism is a product of the mechanics of capitalism is almost an aside most of the time, but i still think it's important to bear in mind.

I also kind of don't think that many people are unaware of this, either. People know they're adverts, and that they're there to sell them shit. But a poster for a gig is doing the same (trying to get money from people using good art) and people don't worry so much about that either.

Let's have a beer, still_here. Let's watch the world burn from life's balcony

The way they distribute their funds isn't, but how they achieve those funds is. Still better than privately owned for-profit companies, obviously, from the pov of anybody who is not a shareholder of these.

I'm doing a whole load of stuff just now for a bunch of entities that are charities, and they are really good and stuff, and have amazing objectivites. But what they are about to do is one of the most capitalist things you can possibly do to / with an entity, and their attitude is, well, we need to raise x on the market or else y will happen, and we think y should be entirely publically funded and delivered through central/federal/local (depending on who you speak to) government, it should not be delivered by a 'charity', but that's not life is it, and we have to make sure we can deliver our services whatever it takes.

It is so so far from ideal, the opposite of ideal I'd say, but it's increasingly common and short of revolution, it looks like it's the way it is for the foreseeable future.

And if they aren't exploiting all opportunities (within reason) to maximise their impact on their beneficiaries (i.e. by raising the most money and by spending it in the most effective way) then this amounts to an ultimate breach of their charitable objectives.

This leads you down some rather complex ethical rabbit-holes (see Comic Relief investing in arms manufacturers etc. etc.) but there's an inherent paradox in all of it. Of course you're get the usual suspects crowing that there are easy answers to these dilemmas. The reality, of course, is that there isn't.

are appalling in the way they steamroller their way through to achieve their fundraising targets. I still can't believe that McMillan had the balls to buy advertising on Google for "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge".

most charities were modestly reactive in their soliciting of donations a la CRUK/Breakthrough with the #NoMakeUpSelfie earlier this year (CRUK are normally pretty aggressive but they were fine here). A few other charities who started to get mentioned by people taking it simply said `This is great, if you want to donate go here` etc. etc. but Macmillan basically came along and said `We'll have a spot of that!` and aggressively targeted folk about it even though the ethos of the ALS challenge was incongruent with a cancer-related charity. Not fair game in my opinion, as you acknowledged.

that they made lots of money for their workers through providing good services (which imho they do) rather than by bombaring people with emotionally manipulative exploitative shite (not seen the advert, might be a work of genius)

that were very obvious filmed and edited and such in July or August and the kids are going reall y sad when they realise it's not christmas for real and why do i have be on tv daddy and mummy and why is mummy crying daddy dont drink that beer everything will be okay

but supposedly there was an initiation ceremony to get into the ira, one man had to go to Belfast zoo, take a penguin and put it into the poloar bear enclosure. Seems mad, sure the polar bear wouldn't even be able to get the wrapper off.

I mean, you just know that the parents bought the lady penguin so that they could, the moment the lad's back is turned, toss out the ratty looking, e-coli infested old Monty. TRUE LOVE 4 EVA (I did have a wee tear in my eye. I am so excited about Christmas. Mine is two weeks today.) < 3